Beautiful Girl
by gitania
Summary: Boone and Sayid talk about Shannon the one that got away, from them both. Oneshot.


Beautiful Girl

Author: Gitania – I own nothing but the ideas in my head and the disk in my computer!

The Idea: Since I am primarily a Musician, I have decided to write a fic inspired by music! Each chapter will be named after a new song, and will be inspired by the song of its title. Enjoy, review (please!), and feel free to suggest songs you would like to inspire the next chapter! – Gitania

Inspiration: The first chapter (and title of the whole fic) is inspired by the song "Beautiful Girl", by Matchbox 20.

"It won't be the first heart that you break,

It won't be the last, beautiful girl…"

Beautiful Girl

"You won't be the last, man," Boone said sympathetically, slapping Sayid on the shoulder in a male-bonding type of way. "And you're sure as hell not the first." he added, smiling weakly to indicate himself.

"I realise this – but somehow it does not improve my outlook on the situation." Sayid said, settling himself next to Boone at the fire on the beach.

The men watched the object of their affection as she waded in the ocean, supremely self-confident.

Boone nodded resignedly, "Beautiful girls, huh? There's no getting around them."

"Though they seem to go straight through us without too much trouble," Sayid added. He paused, and decided to go on with the reason for his impromptu visit, "I wanted to apologise."

"For what?"

"I know you tried to warn me about her, but…" Sayid trailed off, but Boone jumped to his defence.

"Don't worry about it, man. Nobody really wants to believe what Shannon's like. We want to think she's all sweetness and light, and she's happy to let us. We're slaves to beauty and a potential lay."

Sayid sighed, "It was not like that for me."

Boone looked up at his companion, eyebrows raised in disbelief, and scoffed. "Liar. You're not immune to that."

"No man is immune to that!" Sayid laughed, enjoying Boone's company for the first time. He confessed, "I believed that there was more to her than a bad attitude and an obsession with stylish shoes."

"There's not." Boone joked, and then turned serious. "Okay, there is. More, I mean. But I think it'll take a better man than you or I to really get it out of her."

"Perhaps you're right."

They sat in companionable silence, both thinking their own private thoughts about the girl who was now wandering slowly away from them, along the shore.

"Just so we're clear," Boone started, "she dumped you, right?"

"Just so we're clear," Sayid countered, "isn't that what 'This just isn't working for me anymore' means?"

"Sounds crystal clear to me," Boone sympathised. He picked up a nearby stick and tapped it absentmindedly against his leg. "But at least you guys had some sweet moments along the way, right?"

"I never felt as though she trusted me," Sayid confessed, staring intently into the fire. He was not prone to confessions, and he wasn't altogether comfortable with the experience.

"That's because she didn't." Boone put it simply. "She doesn't trust anybody. I don't think she even really trusts herself, which is probably half the reason she's so messed up, you know? But, if it makes you feel any better, some of the smiles she had with you were the most honest I've ever seen from her. That's counts for something, right?"

Sayid was comforted, but a little confused by Boone's open companionship. "Why are you so willing to console me?" he asked, wondering if he would get a straight answer.

"Because you and I are in the same boat. Both unable to escape the wily temptress that is Shannon. She could ask us to wrestle down a polar bear because she's tired of eating the same damn thing every day, and we'd probably beat each other to a bloody pulp beforehand, both trying to do her Holy bidding first. Disgraceful, isn't it?" Boone smiled in a resigned way, and threw the stick into the fire.

Sayid looked at him in sad agreement, "You seem oddly alright with that." he mused.

"I've resigned myself to the inevitable." Boone smiled, and Sayid realised that there were times that Boone seemed so much older than his years.

He continued, "You see, Sayid, every man will eventually find himself at the complete mercy of a woman. She may or may not love you back, but there's no denying that perfect chemistry. She could be the Devil herself, but you just have to realise that that's how it is. You deal with it while you have to, and eventually you'll feel yourself moving on…"

"How long have you been moving on?" Sayid asked sceptically.

Boone grinned at himself, showing a touch of self-consciousness, "Too long."

Sayid stood, ready to resign himself to the inevitable and wait for the moment of moving on. "Beautiful girls," he sighed.

Boone gave him another friendly clap on the shoulder, and grinned sympathetically, "Beautiful girls – there's no escape."


End file.
